The Rune Knight - D&D: Optimized #38

[@DnDDeepDive]

A couple of errata corrections! 1 - If you want to get to Huge, you’d have to use Giant’s Might first, *then* cast Enlarge on yourself (as Giant’s Might doesn’t make you grow a size, it just takes you up to Large). 2 - You can’t take Word of Radiance at Sorc 2 (no spell slots on cantrips) but you *can* at Sorc 1 (“When your Spellcasting feature lets you *learn* or replace a sorcerer cantrip or a sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose the new spell from the cleric spell list or the sorcerer spell list.”)

[@nicholasarosemena3829]

I also want to point out that a big bears extra reach RAW only applies when you make a melee attack on your turn, so your opportunity attack range wouldn’t actually be 15 ft, it would still be 10ft

[@nicholasarosemena3829]

Funny enough it is similar to the issue treantmonk pointed out with the daos bludgeoning damage

[@brennennestvogel3983]

Also, I don't know if treantmonk noticed, but while crusher is once per turn, genie's wrath is once per *your* turn. So no pushing people with crusher on reaction attacks.

[@geniumme2502]

Treant said he already asked for another collab! MAKE IT HAPPEN :D

[@nicholasarosemena3829]

@@geniumme2502 Make him do a monk!

[@KrSaPoww]

and they said avengers would be the most ambitious crossover

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha

[@shanebernier2483]

Literally just watching this whole video on Treantmonk's channel, just here to give the views and encourage further collaboration.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@jordanedwards2633]

Same for me but other way around 😂

[@Rausque]

Same!

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Rausque Much love!

[@codiethompson3401]

Ditto

[@jameswise8396]

My two favorites. So different and yet so complementary. So much can be gained by watching these guys. They both build characters that are playable from the beginning. I'm so excited about these 2 guys collaborating.

[@ChristianW1975]

I’m an archmage level patreon supporter of Treantmonks Temple, i appreciate his content very much. Your channel Colby, is a close second for me. I will have to see if i can find the funds to support your work aswell.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you!

[@jasonlarsen5380]

Really enjoyed the Team up! Chris is on point as always moving quickly and effectively through the content balanced well with Colby’s careful and thoughtful approach to a build. The video was longer than normal but I'm glad they took the time to have some banter and share the story of how their paths crossed. I was a watcher of each content creator separately but was happy to see the calibration... It was a success. Rather than future build together (or maybe on occasion) I would love to see the two discuss newly released books/sub-class content, I think they each bring a a different perspective that plays off the other well. Also kudos to Chris for letting Colby present his take on the build first... the man knows the game so well he can always add something even of they presents the exact same build.

[@percevalex]

WOW simply WOW, do more colabs like this. You guys just look like old friends that are happy to do something together again after a long time.

[@Hesauce]

Look at how far Colby has come! Doing crossovers and making the KZbinr face in the thumbnail!

[@jakobchaney6819]

Our boy's all grown up

[@kaemonbonet4931]

Lol

[@jheckie14]

You love to see it

[@fuzzysquirrel]

haha

[@maxcoto9061]

Y'all giving Chris flack for talking over Colby clearly can't see just how giddy he was to be doing this. I freaking loved it. What an awesome collab. You two had some great chemistry. Just a ton of fun to watch. Awesome builds as always too. Ugh. So good.

[@kaemonbonet4931]

Been with treantmonk since he was in the giant in the playground forums putting up build guides for pathfinder. I am glad to see you two having fun and working together

[@10SentenceScience]

When you watch, make sure to play the others channel video in the background, so they both get the views for the youtube algorithm! Love this collab.

[@DnDDeepDive]

[@honqhonq3433]

My goodness. I can see both of you are having tons of fun, nerding out on what you guys can do with your characters. This is lovely to see this kind of collab. Thank you for the content

[@iLitTheSun]

Loved this! Chris is so thorough, props to Colby for that word of radiance surprise! You guys had good screen chemistry too

[@dylandugan76]

Watching and commenting again on your channel for algorithm purposes. Also, huge respect to both of you guys for posting the entire, uncut collab on both of your channels. Too many collabs are split into first and second halves, or each video only has one collaborator's contribution and then they direct you to the other channel to see the rest of the content. It might be slightly more profitable, but it's super annoying to the viewer, even if you are a fan of both collaborators, let alone if one of them is introducing you to the other, as happened to me today. Excited to check out the rest of this channel!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you and welcome! ❤️

[@nicoruppert4207]

I actually learnt of treantmonk from the collab announcement

[@nicolasvillasecaali7662]

You 2 tossing rune knight builds like no bodies business and I'm here suffering to make my beast barb16/rune knight4 build level progression. You 2 are really awesome guys, keep it up!

[@SmokeSolo1975]

I'm trying to level progress barb 5 rune knight the rest with a dip in rogue for expertise.

[@charliewilliamson4431]

Love to see you to continue on building! Awesome job on the collab

[@mozartdminor]

Unfortunately I watched this on Treantmonk's channel so I can't help your engagement metrics but I wanted to stop by and like and comment at the very least. Y'all have to do another collab at some point so I can watch it here and balance things out :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

much appreciated!

[@Kurse_of_Kall]

A bit of advice: the collaboration videos are great, but people will be *far* more incentivized to check out the other content creator if you format them a little differently. Do one collab video and post it exclusively to one channel, then a separate video exclusively on the other, and "advertise" in both videos so they each tell you to go watch to other on the other channel, (and put the links in a pinned comment or the description lmao). Now a viewer of one channel who really wants to watch all of the content from that specific creator is way more likely to come to the person you are collaborated with and view their channel as well - at least giving you a view if not more once they're already there.

[@Nr4747]

I agree. Just do a video on each channel for each build but use the same intro and advertise both builds and each other's videos and put the link to the other video in the video description.

[@rcschmidt668]

This will help so viewers have the option whether to carve out about an hour and a half for the entirety of both.

[@tonymullins8437]

Colby, dude PLEASE start linking your final builds as a viewable D&D Beyond character.

[@timscott7151]

Yes please

[@dennisjordan5917]

Then he would have to pick spells!

[@zh90604]

This would really appreciated!!!!

[@ChristianW1975]

I second the request

[@TheGreatJ]

Just saying that will probably be very hard / nearly impossible. In a lot of cases you have to own every single dnd book associated with the various builds. So if a certain subclass was released in XGE, and the custom lineage race they are using is from Tashas, then you need to own both on dnd beyond in order to make that character there.

[@tomtomlinson2835]

I thoroughly enjoyed that, loved the "same but different" results. Two great guys, two great builds, excellent content, mwah!

[@scottshier5502]

I wanted a Rune Knight because of the enlarge feature. My first thought was Dwarf just because of the idea of a Dwarf growing huge for a fight. After seeing this and realizing that grappling was such a strong characteristic of this build, I decided to go with Grung. A giant frog-man that grabs you and holds you while also poisoning you.

[@fairygoodmuller8065]

this reminds me of my friend and i's build discussions, we love seeing just how far we can push builds!

[@slurringscot954]

This format is great. I really like the talk about each other's builds. Do this more

[@romulolima2655]

Was thinking of playing one today during school time, this video was spot on!

[@Obadiah31]

This was a fantastic watch. Hope we see more collabs in the future.

[@TheCoverOfficer]

Treantmonk's Power Move was cool. I like the uppercut-type attack to launch someone in the air.

[@kencutpro]

As a future video request, it was mentioned in the video briefly by Treantmonk, but I think doing an optimization build on a specific race would be really cool. Like, what would your optimized Dragonborn character be, with the racial feats available to them, etc. See how that measures up.

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

This is a really great collaboration. Thanks for doing this guys.

[@Madchef8u]

Large scale wars don’t happen often in role play but I’d love to see these two (safely distanced) side to side protecting 20-40 others and just wrecking havoc

[@JBCoops88]

My two favorite optimizers together at last! Loved both of the builds so much

[@mattdodson1272]

Great stuff! Keep it coming! Would love to see another team-up between you two.

[@emilymitchell6823]

It’s so fun and also super helpful to see you two make different builds for similar concepts. Well done!

[@emilymitchell6823]

Also, this entirely seals my decision to multi class with my Order Cleric (if we get to level 5) - the whole interception style syncs perfectly

[@lost-in-fantasy6504]

Great builds, time to pick up a rune knight at some point in the future! I also recently watched the sliding into my DM's house rules video, and I wanted to share something about the free feat discussion. At our table we use a rule we like to call a 'story feat', where each player gets 1 free feat which they can take at any time they choose during the game, with a single requirement. The feat should fit what is going on in the story. This has led to some amazing and cool story moments in our game, like my dwarven fighter taking the fey-touched feat after being cursed by a hag, and using those very powers to kill that hag later. Or our Aasimar paladin in a game that I run who took the sentinel feat in an attempt to save our party rogue from certain death by keeping an angry Nabassu from chasing after him. This works super well for our table as everything is kept in good faith, and the extra feat does help to make that character progression feel a little more flexible and well earned at the same time, AND it gives some incentive to step away from the variant human. :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Love this.

[@geniumme2502]

Just came over after watching the video on Treants channel, to give a like here. And to ask you to repeat this collab! It's amazing! Treant said he asked you already for a repeat so its up to you now?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Yes I'm sure it's more of a "when not if" question :)

[@geniumme2502]

@@DnDDeepDive makes my day :D

[@Cryptic_Golem]

I'm calling this Channel crossover "The Council of Crit"

[@lightningseven586]

Crit happens

[@jasonhull8075]

Late to the party of course, but I've watched this on both channels, and PLEASE DO IT AGAIN! BEST COLAB EVER!

[@Nexidal]

Very cool episode! Love the different flavors of the same concept. From a gameplay perspective very similar, but from an rp perspective they could be very different.

[@davidrose7938]

Great collaboration! Would be great to see more in the future. 👍

[@keggotht9323]

Another great video, I'm actually one of the few who found treant monk through your channel. It was your videos that inspired me to look at optimising some of my builds and now I can't stop

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hooray!

[@Fr4nZeR]

And the day came.. Congrats Colby! You two are great. I watched the video on Chris's channel, but I'm here to bump the algorithm. I was a little worried by the chemistry between you two, being both great but so different people. My worries had no base.. you look like whole life friends man. This was so fun! Now I want a bladesinger cross over, being wizards Chris's specialty and bladesingers your favourite char. Anyway, cheers again. Love you both!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!!!

[@michaelpetrovich2959]

Hey guys, great video. It was educational seeing how both of you approach things and hearing you bounce things off eachother. Would love to see this in the future. Can't go wrong when my two favorite dnd channels collab.

[@tuaa33]

My god the builds are looking fun. Hope you’ll do swarmkeeper next time. Maybe you both can agree with similar dpr measurement in future?

[@Gargoyle2830]

Awesome. I've long been a fan of Treantmonk and this collaboration rocked ! Thanks so much for doing it, both of you :-)

[@jonassanoj3045]

One problem with Treantmonk's Power move: you can only apply the Genie bludgeoning damage on *your* turn, so it wouldn't apply to an opportunity attack. (However, it's still an awesome move during your own turn)

[@ajfria4]

This was so cool!!! One of my favorite videos ever. Do more!!

[@TheRiveners]

Morrrrrreeeeeee. You guys by yourselves are great, but together it's super fun and we get more insight. Monthly collab????

[@troydesporte1720]

To be fair Colby you are the first dnd youtuber I started watching.

[@Dancingcats5ever]

Super cool i live in calgary as well ! Watching this a few years later as i am playing a rune knight soon :)

[@Telephotpmac]

Thank you Colby and Treantmonk this video was fantastic. I really enjoyed the collaboration and love the content. For the record Colby your content did introduce me to Treantmonk, and I could not be happier to start my journey on the optimized DnD path. Highly appreciate you both.

[@ytkuanrensu]

Listening to this on my drive into the clinic. This is so cool. Hope you two do more together!

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

Man, now I *really* want a build focused on thorn whipping / forced moving people through a spike growth. Great video!

[@davidhamer7820]

Thank you both. I have been waiting patiently for 2 weeks and I was not disappointed at all. You guys are awesome. Would love to see you collaborate on more builds and ideas. Maybe an optimised party? 😁

[@jakobchaney6819]

I hope we'll see a sling build with the crusher feat someday

[@DnDDeepDive]

On the list!

[@alanschaub147]

Seconded! 👍🏻

[@hootie_o]

This is amazing content. Looking forward to potential future collabs with Chris when you both find the time!

[@madwithjacob]

I have literally binged every video of yours in two weeks... I now wait patiently for every Tuesday. As far as this video is concerned I love a rune knight grappler with 6 rune knight, 7 beast barb, and 7 monk. You can grab some “friends” and jump-very far. Would love to see a rendition of this from you! (:

[@ShyBurgos]

Awesome crossover. Hey in a short time you been on two established forums for D&D. Way to get that hustle on! Can't wait to see how far your going to get. I did enjoy that you two had different builds and both complemented the fighter base with a magical class for a few lvl dips. Always a pleasure never a chore!

[@jomohunter4649]

best dnd optimisation video i have ever seen!!! thank you both!!

[@Starcoffin]

Commenting here for reach. Watched TMs channel but want the algorithm to touch this video too!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Many thanks!

[@pencilbender]

for some reason seeing those two rooms next to each other and the people in them interacting scratched an itch i didn't know i had.

[@troyyrob]

I’ve designed a Rune Knight archer build that is almost like a better version of Arcane Archer. You can trigger your runes 2-5 times per short rest while you only get 2 Arcane Shots per short rest. The enlarging aspect still increases ranged weapon damage and you can still dump charisma or intelligence since the “castings” of these runes are CON based. Storm rune is a great way to give yourself advantage. Fire rune is a great way to lock down an enemy at range, kind of like the arcane shot that involves the vines. You later get to trigger these runes twice per rest which means you can trigger a total of 10 runes before needing a rest. The damage from your enlarged form scales well, and you can stack that with other things too like hunter’s mark or hex if you wanted to dip into another class. My character’s backstory was that she was one of the humans who was taken care of by the Queen Neri from Storm King’s Thunder. She learned all of this from that queen and that could very easily fit with either a dip into cleric, warlock (reflavor genie as a powerful giant), or even just dipping into ranger for some spells and another fighting style.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Love it!

[@LordNerfherder]

I want to see a collab where you and two+ others build and optimize a party. On a macroperdpective with a few details but not extreme indepth on all. Strategies! Analysis!

[@lukelloyd8976]

Fantastic collaboration...and a wonderful statement that "two builds can be different, and both still optimised" There's a wider lesson for the Internet there... probably Meanwhile, if you'll excuse me; I'm going to be "bending" the rules, and "just noticing" that the 'Rune Attack' abilities don't require melee attacks... ...good evening, Herr Gloomstalker

[@leebarnett2610]

Absolutely love both your channels so this was a treat. I prefer your build over Treantmonk's as Spike Growth assumes that you are the only up close fighter in the party. If you've got other party members who need to get close to the enemies, Spirit Guardian is much better. Also the reach of the Bugbear shouldn't be underestimated. Enemies can teleport past tanks or use distance weapons. The Bugbear can strike them no matter where they are standing in a room. (And the mental image of your Mr. Fantastic Bugbear is just too good to pass up)

[@pugking4518]

I once played as a Fairy Rune Knight in a one shot it was pretty cool because my Fairy ended up a size huge on the battle map by using enlarge spell you get as a Fairy this might end up being my backup character for my Out of the Abyss campaign

[@cchapa7470]

I love this collab! I made two builds with rune knight "The Elder God" and "The Napoleon Complex" where I made Cthulu and a colossal grappler respectively. EG was basically a simic hybrid and NC was a duegar for the free Enlarge.

[@FlutesLoot]

I watched Chris' video first, so I apologize that I won't watch it all the way through here, haha. But I enjoyed this collaboration and I hope you continue with more. Utah + Canada = OP

[@DnDDeepDive]

No worries - thanks for stopping by!

[@MrTadashiikeda]

Wow, I reed treantmonk guide to Batman wizard since early 3.X. Sooo glad to see him doing a colab with Colby

[@riccardoconti6682]

I would really like another collaboration between you guys, amazing content 💪

[@nevertoonate]

Oh fun idea for another video with Treantmonk! You should do a team build. Each choose a role and try to optimize around each other as a duo.

[@LawrenceDomkowski]

I like the Giant Foundling selection for background if your DM allows this background.

[@alangalantin8614]

Amazing colab!!! Now Coby, you its time to the ......ULTIMATE MONK Build!!!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Whew. It's tough. I've actually done 3 monk builds thus far, but one is a little underpowered, one is super niche (Anti-Mage) and the other is an abomination (if a lot of fun :) )

[@alangalantin8614]

@@DnDDeepDive The Astral Grappler was nice 🙂

[@alangalantin8614]

@@DnDDeepDive Maybe the ULTIMATE Monk is a Bladesinger/artificer with thunder gauntlets. Maybe a mongol monk throat sing master :)

[@louiscann9905]

Love both channels! Watching it here first but gonna watch on both! :D love your stuff as always!

[@gregfornero4794]

Great builds from both! Thanks guys!

[@scottyrose9106]

Omg. You should do an optimized Fairy Rune Knight!!! That would be amazing!!!😁😁😁

[@TheRobversion1]

Hey great vid Colby and Chris! looking forward to more in the future. I liked the concept of optimizing reach as it hasn't been overdone yet. been quite busy since your 10k vid, but i'm starting to catch up now. Loved the link to the thornlock in the vid. Just a few things i wanted to point out. 1. battlemaster maneuvers DC are based off of your str or dex. not con so your dc should be higher. 2. the brace maneuver can work great with this build but yeah it's quite reaction heavy already, 3. loved the word of radiance and distant spell combo. the "aha" moment on chris's face was priceless! 4. while i would probably go the route chris did (spike growth as it's more dmg the spirit guardians if you have a low dc), i liked the fact you figured out a way to extend your reach and this feels more of an "aura" build. 5. chris's power move was awesome! knocking to the air for additional falling dmg and prone is a nice combo. 6. I'm glad to see more people using superior technique as i use it extensively in my builds (if you remember my past comments). Another option over goading attack to give disadvantage is menacing attack. it has a better effect but yeah immunity to frightened counters it. keep up the good work both of you!

[@timuking5762]

This was honestly a lot of fun to watch, and you two had some great interactions - much more enjoyable than the Nerdarchy video. Which, I imagine, comes from you and Chris having a similar approach to the game.

[@me-qn6bh]

Not sure if this comes up during the video, but had to comment after seeing bugbear, they dont benefit from the extra 5 feet range on attacks of opportunity because it says its only when you make an attack on YOUR turn

[@chacepassmore6474]

Hey Colby! Just wanted to say that at my table, we usually have 2 encounters per long rest. We are always getting into really hard fights with either a lot of enemies or a lot of hard enemies though.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Sounds just like ours - I prefer fewer, tougher fights personally, but admittedly have only experienced a handful of “pushover” encounters...

[@chacepassmore6474]

@@DnDDeepDive Same! It's a lot more fun to have more interesting encounters than a lot of small ones :) for me anyway

[@yasch3696]

Really loved this collab. I just had to smile through the whole video casue you guys seem so sweet :D Hope there will be more collabs in the future.

[@alanschaub147]

I really appreciate Colby’s humility. ❤️

[@andreyrojasmadrigal6940]

Very intersting perspectives on the same concept, theorycraft at its finest!

[@gabrielcross1062]

I also want to bring attention to oversized weapons. It's a rule in the DMG pg. 277. Large weapons do double the damage dice, huge weapons do triple, etc. With the opportunity to get large/huge weapons in the campaign rune knights can be one of the strongest melee damage dealers in the game.

[@robmorris3987]

My two favourite Optimancers together. So so good!

[@Veon97]

If this became a monthly thing, I'd be so thrilled!

[@livelearnlovesmile]

My inner fan boy is crying in glee at this. Sorry I'm late to the video but I love the comment that this isn't a competition. Personally I see this as a beautiful symposium of two master storytellers giving a masterful rendition explaining how they would craft a given character class. I don't see their characters as opponents in anything but a friendly drinking came lol. Imagine them both in the same adventuring party! Love both your work! Would love to see you both do this for the twilight cleric!

[@markdriver7658]

More of these would be great. Thanks for the effort

[@hamishbuchanan2334]

Watching this has confirmed the Colby is indeed the DnD tuber for me. Just the difference in attention to detail and explanation of nuances is a step up. In particular, the misread of genies wrath really grinds my gears. The proficiency bonus can be added to the damage : "Once during each of your turns". Not an allies turn, not an hostile turn. Your turn. No opportunity attack bonus damage, no crusher, no power move. Other than that, great video! Treantmonks energy is great, and his backstory justification for custom lineage was cool! Nothing on the calm, correct Colby though :D

[@DnDDeepDive]

To be fair, between the two of us, I think Chris screws up the rules less often than I do :) - but I appreciate the kind words!

[@Ellamental21]

I have a plan for a Duergar rune knight, because at level 3 you can make yourself large with Giant Might, then cast enlarge on yourself with your Racial Trait, and at 18 you can make yourself huge, then cast enlarge on yourself make yourself Gargantuan!!

[@chrisbolducrowan5110]

I’m a professional DM and I only get to play in one game. My character is a Goliath Rune Knight and I absolutely LOVE the character. He’s super tanky, does excellent damage, has a ton of Bonus Action and Reaction economy, and has tons of RP potential. I love these two guys collaborating.

[@Zodtheimortal]

Enjoyed the video. Two of my favorite optimizers wrapped up in one.

[@jakubkucharczyk5255]

Watching the hole video was a fantastic experience. The showcase of two minds that are best in class, throwing out ideas and exploring depths of 5e mechanics. And also with unexpected turns of events. During the early levels stage of the video, I was like "wow, Treantmonk just destroyed Colby, his build is much better". But later it was like "wow, Colby had so much aces in his sleeve, waiting for the right moment to put them on a table, now his build matches Treantmonk's build". Finally, both builds ended as equally interesting and poweful. Great entertainment, hope more collaboration videos will appear in the future. For my personal preference, I would still pick Treantmonk's build as something I would like to try myself in a game, but it's only because I don't play monster races. However, if a DM agrees to play a human but replace human racial traits with bugbear's, then both builds would be on pair for me.

[@mattlewing9545]

I love the rune knight. Good video. I think grappling or the pugilist thematic style wasn't really represented until this kit could back that up. Cheers gentlemen.

[@theresnoracelikegnome]

Someone has probably pointed this out by now, but Polearm Master’s BA attack does Bludgeoning damage, so you could theoretically take Crusher and Slasher without Dao, and just use them on different attacks.

[@Moleje1337]

Sanctuary is really funny when your enemies can't walk past you.

[@Zaknyfein]

So helpful guys! Thank you so much!

[@quendi5557]

Fun Fact, I had never watched a video with Treant monk in it. then I watched this.

[@glarak9819]

With the discussion on storm rune. It is probably worth mentioning that you don't need to be the person wearing the object and invoking the rune. You can hand it over to someone who doesn't do that much as a reaction

[@timothyb1836]

So interestingly enough I enjoy a bit of optimization myself and I decided to do an off meta optimization of rune knight that was focused on crafting. Since the Fire Rune passive bonus is not expertise I confirmed that it does stack with expertise meaning if you have +5 prof and then expertise and then the Fire Rune you actually have a crafting bonus of +20! lol I then got expertise via feats in every tool and raised my Int to +5 so any tool check to make a Legendary item is at minimum +25! Then magic initiate to pick up identify and prestidigitation for the flavor of being a master rune scribe crafting the legendary tools of Gods.

[@timothyb1836]

Lastly I''ll be going Ranger 2 to get canny which is another double prof bonus that isn't expertise (this is usually only for skills but my DM is cool). +35 crafting bonus Lmao

[@Andregebara]

Storm cleric would be awesome for the control when you can push people around with it too, and maybe add a d8 to your cantrip/hit